It's my life, you're just along for the ride!

Reuters just published a photo essay of the NYPD’s Counter Terrorism Unit. The unit is loaded with heavy weapons, Big Brother-esque technology and a determination to prevent something like 9/11 from happening again.

Many New Yorkers have probably noticed the increased cop presence around the city—in subways, on streets, etc.—after 9/11 and complained about them inconveniencing their lives. And sure, some of it is more a show of force than a show of action, but there’s a lot more beyond the dog and pony show.

Most impressive is the Hercules team, which is just as bad ass as it sounds—an intelligence officer, a canine unit, highway patrol unit and squad of heavily armed police officers that are ready for emergencies and tour the city to maintain their presence.

Reuters has so much more about the CTU (including gnarly surveillance tools) but what surprised me most was how the NYPD react to terrorism in other countries and then develop their own preventive measures. Bombs in London subways led to increased patrol in our subways, dirty bombs in Mumbai led to more personnel trained in urban assault tactics. The NYPD also has a presence in 11 different countries, making it the only US police department to have a worldwide reach. As we know, the best intelligence is often better at choking out terrorism than the best technology.

Check out the full photo essay over at Reuters. [Reuters]

via What the NYPD’s Impressive Counter Terrorism Unit Actually Does.

Cuba, famed maker of delicious (and cancery) cigars, may just have an anti-lung cancer vaccine that’s worth getting excited about. CimaVax-EGF isn’t preventative, but it may make this horrible deadly disease just a plain old horrible disease.

The newly available CimaVax-EGF is the product of 25 years of cancer research by Cuban medical authorities. While it cannot prevent cancer or remove cancer, it can do much to limit its effects on your body. In short, it should make cancer a manageable chronic disease. You probably won’t feel great, but it may keep cancer from killing you. It can be used on stage 3 and 4 cancer patients whom have not been responding to other types of treatment.

Specific proteins are generated by the body when lung cancer is present that allow cells to proliferate uncontrollably. The vaccine generates anti-bodies which combat those specific proteins, thus limiting the damage that cancer can do. It has been used in over 1,000 clinical trials in Cuba and is currently available, for free, to all hospitals on the island.

via Cuba’s Lung Cancer Vaccine Could Save Your Life.